Trail Mix: Goodnight, Texas

Goodnight, Texas, couldn’t be much more than a flat spot on Interstate 40. Blink one too many times and you just might miss it as you cruise across the dusty Texas panhandle.

What Goodnight, Texas, is, however, is the geographic midpoint between the homes of Avi Vinocur (San Francisco) and Patrick Dyer Wolf (Chapel Hill, North Carolina). The two songwriters kindled a friendship in 2007 and a songwriting partnership that has withstood the 2800 or so miles that separate them.

Goodnight, Texas released their first record in 2012 and recently offered the world their sophomore effort, Uncle John Farquhar. Trail Mix caught up with the band to chat up bank robbery, small towns, and long book titles.

BRO – Have you guys ever been to Goodnight, Texas? Apparently, it’s a small town. Tempted to stop by and invite the citizenry – all 28 of them – to a house concert?

GT – Yes, we have, on several occasions. We went there on October 1, 2012, the day before our first record was released, and went to each door in town and gave everyone an album. We also, on a later trip, rented the community building for twenty-four hours and put on a concert. It cost a mere twenty-five bucks. We actually drew more than twenty-eight people because some folks from adjacent towns came, too. It was a party. They cooked tri-tip.

BRO – The band recently expanded from a duo to a quartet. How has that changed the songwriting/performing dynamic?

GT – We still write songs separately, but everything gets a little bass/drums sriracha on it now. It’s a major improvement. We can get heavy and loud, and our quiet moments are much quieter.

BRO – What’s the band listening to on the road?

GT – Our drummer, Alex, gets on these kicks where he will only listen to one thing for two weeks straight and we are subjected to it. Currently, he is playing a lot of Fred Eaglesmith, Nick Cave, and Tom Waits, but always love us some Shovels & Rope, Shakey Graves, Old Man Luedecke, and Billy Joel.

BRO – We are featuring “A Bank Robber’s Nursery Rhyme” on this month’s Trail Mix. Who is your favorite bank robber of all time?

GT – It’s tough to pick one, but our favorite heist-related book is Narrative of Patrick Lyon, Who Suffered Three Months Severe Imprisonment in Philadelphia Gaol On Merely a Vague Suspicion of Being Concerned in a Robbery of a Bank of Pennsylvania; With His Remarks Thereon.

Having read the title, I feel like I have already read the book. With as many miles as the boys in Goodnight, Texas are racking up on the road, I am sure they will have plenty of time to knock that little tome right out.

Goodnight, Texas is out in California over the next week or so before heading east in early September. The band hits the Mid-Atlantic on September 16, when the play The Black Cat in Washington, D.C. Fans in North Carolina (Charlotte, Chapel Hill, and Boone), Tennessee (Bristol and Nashville), and Georgia (Athens) should also be looking forward to the band’s upcoming stops.

For more information on Goodnight, Texas, when the band will be close to your town, or how you might get a copy of the new record, Uncle John Farquhar, surf over to www.hiwearegoodnighttexashowareyou.com.